Donna Littlejohn

Recent articles

Veterans

A friendly boxing match followed by dinner and a movie. For a bunch of young sailors stuck on a ship, it made for a typical laid-back, easygoing Saturday.But the ship was the USS Arizona and, within hours, nearly all of those sailors, some of them still teenagers, would be dead.It’s the personal stories from the surprise Sunday morning attack at Pearl Harbor — at 7:55 a.m. Dec. 7, 1941 — that so often strike home, even now, generations later.Eddie...

Workplace culture

When Donald Trump was coming to visit, everyone would be on edge.Anne Donohue of San Pedro, a young hostess at Trump National Golf Club during her college years, said much of the angst stemmed from Trump’s insistence that only young, attractive women be working in the restaurant at the Rancho Palos Verdes club.“The manager just wanted to make sure we put on a really good face,” Donohue said Thursday. “The most attractive girls, in their early 20s or...

Navy

Battleship guns were fired, echoing across the busy shipping channel, as the amphibious assault ship USS America glided into the Port of Los Angeles on Tuesday to herald the first LA Fleet Week.Observers took photos and pointed and waved at sailors lined up in their dress whites as the ship passed by the Battleship Iowa, with escort sprays from a Los Angeles city fireboat sending a water salute high into the air.The celebratory scene was an unexpected perk at the end of a...

Navy

Now that LA Fleet Week has (nearly) arrived, here’s what you’ll need to know:What is Fleet Week? The U.S. Navy holds Fleet Week events at ports throughout the United States, offering residents a chance to tour ships, talk with sailors and learn more about the Navy. The first Fleet Week was celebrated in San Diego in 1935 and the annual event has become a Navy, Marine Corps and Coast...

Veterans

When 98-year-old Ernest Thompson was called out onto his Gardena front porch, he was told a couple of people were coming to visit.Instead, what greeted the World War II veteran was a moment he won’t soon forget.Marching down the street in formation, about two dozen young sailors stopped in front of Thompson’s house to offer their own personal tribute with a rousing chorus of “Anchors Aweigh!”• VIDEO:

Navy

An amphibious assault ship with a landing deck will lead a group of active-duty Navy vessels arriving on Labor Day weekend for the inaugural LA Fleet Week event at the Port of Los Angeles, the Navy and port officials announced Friday.The USS America, the nation’s newest America-class amphibious assault ship, was commissioned in October 2014 during San Francisco Fleet Week activities.Joining the USS America will be:• Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship...

United States Supreme Court decisions

Hundreds of thousands of people living illegally in Southern California were facing a sobering new reality Thursday: the U.S. Supreme Court isn’t coming to their rescue, and their fate may be tied more precariously than ever to the outcome of this year’s presidential election.News that the high court deadlocked, blocking President Obama’s immigration plan from moving forward, quickly spread anxiety across a region with one of the nation’s largest...

War and unrest

Lauren Bruner awoke to the usual 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning sound of the ship’s bugle, looking forward to going ashore for a day off.His Saturday night date with a girl he’d just met had gone well. On Sunday, Bruner planned to take his new romantic interest to Waikiki Beach.The calendar that morning read Dec. 7, 1941.Bruner’s ship? The USS Arizona, docked in Pearl Harbor.His horrific, first-hand tale of what happened next — as bombs...

Elections

Thousands of union workers will rally Friday on the San Pedro waterfront during a campaign swing by Sen. Bernie Sanders as he continues to barnstorm the state for presidential primary votes.The outdoor event, sponsored by Harbor Area labor unions, will be held at the Downtown Harbor dock area just north of the Los Angeles Maritime Museum, 84 E. Sixth St., at Harbor Boulevard.Admission is first-come, first serve. Doors open at 8 a.m. and there will be security checks before...

Terrorist attacks

Juan Manuel Banales arrived at Los Angeles Harbor College late Wednesday carrying the colorful symbols of a graduation celebration: a gold Mylar balloon that read “Congratulations Graduate!” and a bouquet of bright flowers.But the tears he wiped away told the back story.Some 20 family members and friends of his daughter, Aurora...